The West Chicago Garden Club

By Ruth Kyme

Our June meeting will be held in the Kruse Garden (weather permitting,) otherwise we will meet at St. Andrews Church.  I will guide you in creating a lovely Mason jar floral arrangement using flowers and foliage from your garden.

The workshop is for members-only, but all visitors are welcome at the meeting and visiting the Kruse House Museum & Garden.

The “ingredients “ from your garden can be divided into 3 basic groups that we work with to create a unique arrangement:

• FOCAL – the main flowers that capture the most attention – hydrangeas, lilies, coneflowers, daisies, etc.
• FILLER – other flowers compliment the focal flowers – cosmos, snapdragons, yarrow, salvia, goats beard, etc.
• FOLIAGE – the greenery that creates the foundation for the focal and filler flowers- shrub cuttings, various herbs, grasses, dusty miller, scented geranium, poppy pods, etc.

Although not totally necessary, try to have fairly equal amounts from each group.  If you are able to bring extras of any group to share with others, that would be greatly appreciated.

The WCGC will provide each arranger with a pint(16oz.) wide-mouth Mason jar with a grid (frog) insert.  The insert will aid in keeping plant material in place during the arranging process and afterwards.  You will need to bring a cutting tool appropriate for cutting flowers and greenery. 

Be creative and have fun selecting your “ingredients!”  I am looking forward to seeing everyone’s creations.

NOTE: If you are not interested in the mini-workshop, please come by the meeting to see the fantastic Kruse House Museum & Garden. Our volunteers do an amazing job and it is well worth the visit. We will have the usual snacks/social time before the business meeting and there is plenty of space to wander around and visit without disturbing the workshop. The Kruse House will be open for inside tours along with a display of. Celia Kruse’s garden tools.

PARKING: There are only a few parking spots actually at the Kruse Museum; however, we have obtained permission to park in the City Hall Parking Lot (475 Main Street) which is a very short walk to the garden.

Our May speaker will be Liz Omura, horticulturist at Cantigny in Winfield.  She is in charge of designing, planting and maintaining the beds in the Idea Garden at Cantigny.  In her presentation, Envisioning Garden Design, Liz will share with us her approach on how she designs a garden space -both at Cantigny and in her home garden.

Does your garden include functional areas for entertaining, wildlife refuge or a source for fresh veggies?  Does it incorporate a core mood of what you want your dream garden to feel like?  Does it include your favorite sensory experiences?  We’ll cover many of these elements in this talk and spark ideas on how to add these elements to your own landscape. 

Meeting Location: St Andrew Lutheran Church NE Corner of Prince Crossing & Geneva Road.

Meeting Time: 6:45PM Refreshments – 7:00PM Business Meeting – 7:15PM Program

Our April speaker will be Glenn Grosch.  Glenn is an experienced horticulturist and has been a certified arborist. He is an entertaining lecturer with strong academic credentials.  Glenn has been on the Chicago Botanic Garden teaching staff since 1997.

Glenn’s program, ‘Success With Woodies,’ will provide us with all the information we will ever need to know to successfully grow all types of woodies (trees, shrubs, deciduous, conifers). The presentation will cover details on site selection, plant selection, planting, pruning, fertilizing, watering and mulching. Some of the newer concepts on planting, pruning, and fertilizing will be a part of the program. Glenn will also give recommendations on his favorite woodies for your home garden.

Glenn was the speaker at our February 2020 meeting where he gave a presentation on Organic Gardening.